Review: George and Ira Gershwin’s music and lyrics inspire the huge vast of talented singers and dancers

“Crazy for You,” a romantic musical featuring 20 songs, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin — was billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy" when it opened on Broadway in 1992 and won that year’s Tony Award for Best Musical.

A huge cast of enthusiastic, talented singers and precision dancers is currently reclaiming the Gershwin standards, bringing all the show’s riotous fun to life on the Alhambra (theatre and dining) stage through May 5. What a treat!

Everybody sings, everybody dances, everybody hams it up, everybody in the audience delights in the adventures of stage-struck New York playboy Bobby Child — played to perfection by Alex Jorth — trying for his show business break, in Deadrock, a Nevada mining town.

The Gershwin standards, performed by the entire ensemble in a melee of romance and mistaken identities, include the pulse-pounding show-stopper "I Got Rhythm," and “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” "Embraceable You," “But Not For Me,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “Bidin’ My Time.” (I confess to not recognizing a dozen others.)

Others in the cast include Michael Ursua as impressario Zangler; Matthew Jay Campbell as sheriff/bar owner Lank; and Megan Sears as Irene, Patti Eyler as Lottie, Liz Fallon as Tess. Plus too many others to mention.

The plot is nothing new, having been adapted and expanded from the 1930s original Gershwin musical, “Girl Crazy,” but who cares? The youthful cast, romance, outrageously funny humor, colorful costumes, and one of the best musical scores of the century with singing and dance to match — who could ask for anything more?

An evening at Alhambra is a double treat: theatre and dining. Last year’s hiring of chef DeJuan Roy — the former executive chef at St. Augustine’s 95 Cordova — was a game-changing move. The buffet of old is gone. Roy creates a new menu for each show. All preparation is on-site. Patrons now select from a menu at each place setting, and courteous, efficient servers bring each course.